Iridium metal is difficult to etch regardless of whether one desires to wet or dry etch. State-of-the-art iridium etching uses chemistries of fluorine, chlorine or a combination of fluorine and chlorine to etch iridium. A significant problem using any know etching process is the presence of sidewall residue, erosion of a photoresist layer, and low selectivity between the etching properties of the iridium layer and an acceptable hard mask, resulting in etching of both the iridium, the hard mask and possibly an layer underlying the iridium.